That was then: reactions to Trump’s January 31 travel restrictions
I remember it well. When Trump restricted travel from China way back on January 31, he was called a xenophobe and a racist, and the restriction completely unwarranted.
Now, of course, experts such as Dr. Fauci have made it clear that they believe those restrictions were prescient and delayed the spread of COVID-19 here, buying us time.
But this is what the pundits and even many health authorities were saying back then. I wonder whether any of those people are now saying “I was wrong.”
Checking to see would take more time that I want to devote to it right now. My guess is probably none or few. I’d love to be proven wrong, though.
[NOTE: Much more here.]
[ADDENUM: Italy didn’t want to be xenophobic, and it has suffered.]
Leftists have no substantive arguments on this or on any other important issue, and so they inevitably resort to accusations of xenophobia and racism, two terms which have been rendered completely meaningless from overuse and are now simply wielded as cudgels against those deemed to be enemies by progressives. Once upon a time, these same mindless fools would have been screaming about heretics and blasphemers.
Even though racism has been elevated to the worst crime possible in the Western world, the more rampant and unfounded accusations of racism have become, the more toothless the charges. Only charges of racism against black people (and Muslims, though they aren’t a race) still carry any weight these days, so it is strange that Italy seems to have gone so far out their way to defer to the Chinese on this front. Nobody really cares (including the courts) about Asians getting less preferential treatment in college admissions, and comedians can still make jokes about Asians being good at math and spelling without losing their livelihoods. And to be honest, other than the people who believe Trump actually said that the virus itself was a “hoax”, no one is offended by it being called the “Chinese virus” or “Wuhan flu” (including the media members spreading these accusations, people who referred to it in the exact same way less than a month ago).
Today’s Whitehouse briefing was long, boring, and not terribly informative; but there was some real fireworks with a few so-called journalists.
Pompeo was at the podium when a journalist asked Pompeo to condemn Trump’s condemnation of another fear-mongering journalist. Instead, Pompeo launched into a calm rant about how many times he has had to deal with dishonest and inaccurate reporting while he has been in the State Dept.
I suggest you read this article which explains why Italy and Iran are having such a deadly outbreak. Belt and Road anyone???
https://thefederalist.com/2020/03/17/iran-and-italy-are-paying-a-hefty-price-for-close-ties-with-communist-china/
By any common-sense measure, both countries should have much lower numbers of confirmed cases and deaths because they are geographically far from the epicenter of the outbreak. The reason these two countries are suffering the most outside China is mainly due to their close ties with Beijing, primarily through the “One Belt and One Road” (OBOR) initiative.
OBOR is Beijing’s foreign policy play disguised as infrastructure investment. Here’s how it works: China and country X agree to do an infrastructure project in country X. Country X has to borrow from a Chinese bank to finance the project. A contract is always awarded to Chinese companies, which then bring supplies and Chinese employees to country X to build the project. Clearly, the country that benefits most from this initiative is China.
“The OBOR provides new markets and consistent demand for China’s goods and services, creates employment opportunities for Chinese workers, and gives China access to strategically important locations and natural resources. Beijing’s real objective is to leverage its newly gained financial power to greatly expand its geopolitical influence as well as its economic and military footing from Asia to Europe and Africa.
While this initiative has worked out well for China’s strategic interests, it hasn’t done the same for participating countries. At least eight countries that signed on the OBOR initiative are so indebted to the Chinese that they had to hand over their strategic assets to China to offset their debt. Despite these worrisome precedents, leaders in both Italy and Iran eagerly signed up to OBOR in 2019, hoping the red capital from Communist China would rescue their nations from economic woes. Now they are paying a dear price for it.”
Trump needs to be more reassuring and stop fighting reporters. He and Congress have begun to open the wallets which is good. This crisis can soon dip into the 1930’s Great Depression if something more is not done. Andrew Cuomo is helping a lot – he just gave relief to home owners who can stop paying mortgage for 90 days. We need our government to step up like this and focus all the energy to ending this nightmare.
Trump did not answer this well.
NBC Reporter
“What do you say Americans who are scared, though? Nearly 200 dead, 14,000 who are sick, millions, as you witnessed, who are scared right now. What do you say to Americans who are watching you right now who are scared?”
“I say that you’re a terrible reporter,” Trump replied. “I think that’s a very nasty question. And I think it’s a very bad signal that you’re putting out to the American people.”
HOW is that a nasty question? Good grief. Sure the reporter was questioning positive spin. But really that is the easiest question in the world to answer. People are truly scared – and many now unemployed with bills to pay, mortgages and rent to pay, insurance to pay. And worst of all a virus threatening their health and life. Yikes. This is no longer a partisan or political issue. It’s an American problem that needs to be resolved.
Assho Peter Alexander is making nasty histrionic drama, totally political in intention. If no one is bleeding on camera then he will fake bleed for them. What scummery.
Montage, Andrew Cuomo is helping crap… he just locked down ny for sunday causing another bought of panic buying… ie more people flooding one small area where they can all catch things from each other as they try to buy what they need from politicians exceeding their actual power..
currently the number of dead WORLDWIDE has not yet reached the number of dead in the US this year by flu… so much for your non partisan point, its definitely partisan as there is no way to answer that kind of question and not get deeper into the crapper.
Montage advising President Trump is like Lenin advising Tsar Nicholas II or Jefferson Davis advising President Lincoln. Somehow I don’t think Montage has President Trump’s or the country’s best interests at heart. Because the press isn’t part of the problem, by spreading fear and chaos, eh, Montage? Inconceivable, I know.
Looking at the polls, it seems as if the second leg of the Trump hatred stool is being broken. The first leg was “Russia, Russia, Russia!” and that’s been debunked. The second was “Trump is a stupid incompetent” and people are seeing for themselves in this crisis that’s not true. The third leg is Trump’s personality and as out-of-the-ordinary as that is, it’s not much on which to balance.
Mike
Neo wrote:
“I wonder whether any of those people are now saying “I was wrong.””
That’s just plain hilarious, Neo, although I don’t suppose you meant it that way.
Another hilarious thing is that Trump’s approval rating today was at 56% and his disapproval at 45%. I sure didn’t see that coming. And specifically on handling of the corona virus, it is even higher. All of my instincts have been wrong on this — I was sure his campaign for a second term was toast. Glad I’m wrong.
F:
Yes, I was being kind of sarcastic there.
Artfldgr
Om
We’ve crossed the bridge and lock-down is the only solution until we either isolate who is infected or get a vaccine or get the numbers down. You have to know this by now. The idea of just pretending all is well and let’s carry on business as usual is dangerous. Cuomo is doing terrific. Trump isn’t doing too badly either. He just doesn’t help anyone by barking at the press over softball questions about safety and concern.
That said I more than have the best interest of America at heart. I live in it and everyone I know is affected in one way or another from being sick to being laid off to being stuck at home – to one who just gave birth. Having a new born is scarier than usual. Let’s all hope for the best. Take care.
That, “Kiss me, I’m Chinese” stunt in Italy was just one more example of how easily some mentalities can be directed to stroll over a cliff’s edge by just pushing the appropriate psychological button.
Montage:
Lock down is the only solution ….. Thank heavens it hasn’t been imposed on Washington state yet, because there are indications that social distancing measures have been effective in flattening the curve already, but with already significant economic hardship. How much pain can you bear, sucker?
Your “barking at the press” is well deserved considering their performance and praise of the CCP who gifted the world with this pandemic.
I note your options did not mention developing more effective treatments.
Montage:
I think your as nutty as the others…
275,427 current number of confirmed cases..
11,397 total deaths WORLDWIDE
current deaths for flu in just the US? 18,000
current deaths for covid in just the US? 260
Why dont we lock em all down for the flu?
Why lock em down for what is turning out to be no more risky than the flu (as the numbers of confirmed increase, the ratio for death decreases)
What is your logic here?
In 2018, the US murder rate was 5.0 per 100,000, for a total of 15,498 murders.
the murder rate (if the same as 2018) is almost 60 times higher than covid
there are, on average – 123 suicides per day (7 of 10 are white males)
the number of people who kill themselves passes the covid every third day
Nearly 1.25 million people die in road crashes each year, on average 3,287 deaths a day world wide
There were 33,654 fatal motor vehicle crashes in the United States in 2018
129 times more than covid
6227 pedestrians were killed in motor vehicle crashes in 2018 in the United States
23.95 times more than covid
61,000 flu-associated deaths in the USA in 2018
234 times more than covid
5,147 workplace fatalities in the US in 2017
19 times more than covid
we are going to become an authoritarian state and remove freedom for a condition that has to rise 23 times higher to match the number of deaths by flu???
given the current number dying and its rise..
it would have a very long way to go to just match the flu
and yet, we have not had martial law propose to fight the flu
as i pointed out before, i am always surprised by the blinders that the left can command someone to put on that rationalizes things out of perspective the way a lens can change the size and shape of what one is looking at.
if covid cases doubled each week from this day forward it would take 8 weeks to match the flu… IF it had the same number of deaths per week as it has had so far, it would take two years to match the flu, which by then would have taken out 120,000 americans.. 180,000 if you include the current batch..
Remember what was going on Jan. 31 when Trump restricted China travel? The Democrats were trying to remove him from office over a phone call. That was really really important, we were told.
Oh, and I don’t believe a word Montage says.
This should be troubling to everyone.
https://threadreaderapp.com/thread/1240654201853747202.html
In an emergency I’ll tolerate all kinds of rigid control and calls for communitarian discipline and self-sacrifice. The danger always is that there is a big slice of the public who believe everything is an emergency. “Isn’t the real emergency . . .?” thinking, I call it. Isn’t the real emergency the fear of bullying in grade school, the obesity epidemic, ownership of guns, global warming?
The real emergency is an exponentially increasing pathogen that’s just theoretically treatable enough to make us crash our medical system and tear our society to pieces trying to decide whom to save and whom to abandon, in public, in real time. We have to get a handle on this one pronto. A real emergency, by definition, is short-term, not a permanent fact of life.
And in the meantime my daughter (primary provider of her household) lost her job of 11 years (small business, no severance) and my son lost a real estate transaction that would have paid a month’s household budget. In light of Art’s list, from where I sit, the mandated “everyone shelter in place” orders are not worth it and a severe overreaction that has encouraged the panic and ignorance.
Wendy K Laubach
The real emergency is an exponentially increasing pathogen that’s just theoretically treatable enough to make us crash our medical system and tear our society to pieces trying to decide whom to save and whom to abandon, in public, in real time.
except that its not exponentially increasing, and the normal flu is slamming it in numbers… ie. what we have so far is LESS than the normal flu and with testing is appearing to be so…
so are you willing to have soup kitchens, starvation, homelessness go up by miles, higher taxes and such for less dead than the flu?
your part of the problem, not part of a solution.
im in a similar boat sharron..
your right…
i will lose my home of 20 years
i will lose my wife
i will go back to eating garbage on the street, but this time, at 55…
i had a 6 figure job..
i paid lots of taxes
now what?
i hope Wendy will pay my bills for me
because i will sure vote to have her taxed up the wazoo for it… and so will all the elderly boomers who just lost their retirment payments and so will all the kids who cant get work due to h1b visas, and on and on
so i hope she is prepared to pay more than she can afford… just to pretend to be safe
This is a bit off topic, but I feel I must say it…
In the past, I have been very critical of Artfldgr. I have even said that there should be a “skip to end” button so that I would not wear out my scroll wheel. Why was I so critical? Well, mostly because his posts in the past have been what can be described as “diarrhea of the keyboard”. Add to that, his sometimes smug attitude of “I know everything and you know nothing”, and well, you get it.
However, I have noticed in the past few weeks, Artfldgr’s posts have been different. He is a lot more succinct. He now tends to make his point without scattering insults and acrimony all around. And even though I don’t always agree with him, I now find his opinions a lot more insightful and well worth the time to read them.
There’s an old saying: “Always make your words soft and sweet, lest you have to eat them some day.”
So here I am, eating my words (…with fava beans and a nice Chianti.)
Artfldgr… I apologize for my attitude toward you in the past. You’re doing a good job. I don’t know what changed, but thank you and keep up the good work.
thanks for the kind words
as to what happened…
I lost my job and may lose my home, my wife.. i had previously lost my family to someone else… (and may become a statistic of the recent huge numbers of 7 out of 10 doing themselves in)
no longer am i trapped at a desk, dying to connect with people
now i am just trapped trying not to be dying
lost job due to diversity, now cant get one due to diversity and covid
i guess nothing much matters enough to talk much…
thanks again
What Roy said.
Artfldgr has information and insights that I don’t see anywhere else, once you learn to read his style — e.e.cummings got famous for writing much the same way with far less useful data!
We are practicing social distancing in meat space, but maybe it’s slightly balanced by the social cohesion in some cyber spaces.
Recycling some of Remy’s music videos from 2017 that are still on-point.
People will die!
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eXWhbUUE4ko&feature=youtu.be
Fake news.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P843ju6YYI4